Scrubbers with adjustable venturis

ABSTRACT

A gas scrubber having an adjustable Venturi throat which receives the gas which is to be cleaned and which also receives a liquid for cleaning the gas. The adjustable Venturi throat has a pair of inner straight parallel edges which extend perpendicularly with respect to the central axis of the Venturi and which are situated in a plane normal to the latter axis, these inner edges being equally and oppositely displaced by the adjustable Venturi to define the smallest throat area of the Venturi. This adjustable Venturi throat structure includes a pair of tiltable baffle plates having inner edges which define the inner edges of the Venturi throat and being equally and oppositely turnable about parallel turning axis which are also in a plane normal to the central Venturi axis. The liquid is supplied in sheets between which the gas flows centrally through the Venturi, so that the liquid is directed transversely across the gas at the Venturi throat with the accelerated gas bursting through the liquid so as to shatter it into minute droplets.

; nited States Patent 1151 3,638,924 Calaceto et al. 1 Feb. 1, 1972 [54] SCRUBBERS WITH ADJUSTABLE 3,393,901 7/1968 Krause .261/62 VENTURIS 2,883,167 4/1959 Krantz ...26l/l6 3,284,064 11 1966 K lm et al. ..261 62 [72] Inventors: Ralph R. Calaceto, Ridgewood; Reuben H. l o I Du Washington Township, Bergen FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS C t Da d M'll R'd d, f 3? y 1,381,962 11/1964 France 764,429 12/1956 Great Britain ..261/D1G. 54 [73] Assignee: Slick Industrial Co., Summit, NJ. by said Ca a t d Said Millal' Primary Examiner-Ronald R. Weaver [22] Filed: Aug 22, 1963 AnomeyBlum, Moscovitz, Friedman & Kaplan [21] App]. No.: 754,559 [57] ABSTRACT I Related U.S. Application Data A gas scrubber having an adjustable Venturi throat which receives the gas which is to be cleaned and which also receives [63] commuatmn'm'parl of a liquid for cleaning the gas. The adjustable Venturi throat has 1967, Pat. No. 3,403,918. a pair of inner straight parallel edges which extend perpendicularly with respect to the central axis of the Venturi and 2% d 18 which are situated in a plane normal to the latter axis, these [58] Fn id 216N118 6 2 1 1 DIG inner edges being equally and oppositely displaced by the adl o are 5 5 justable Venturi to define the smallest throat area of the Venturi. This adjustable Venturi throat structure includes a pair of tiltable baffle plates having inner edges which define the inner [56] References cued edges of the Venturi throat and being equally and oppositely UNITED STATES PATENTS tumable about parallel turning axis which are also in a plane normal to the central Venturi axis. The l1qu1d 1s supplied 1n Crook 1 X heets between the gas flows centrally through the Van- 2,662,547 12/1953 Comeau-mturi, so that the liquid is directed transversely across the gas at 276311751 6/1954 Stone et the Venturi throat with the accelerated gas bursting through $138,647 6/ 1964 Kramz the liquid so as to shatter it into minute droplets. 3,145,239 8/1964 Calaceto... 3,388,897 6/1968 Calaceto ..26l/l 12 X Y 1 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED FEB I I97? SHEET 2 OF 2 NMN SCRUBBERS WITH ADJUSTABLE VENTURIS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 620,383, filed Mar. 3, 1967 now US. Pat. No. 3,405,9l8 and entitled ADJUSTABLE VENTURI FOR SCRUBBERS.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to scrubbers.

In particular, the present invention relates to that type of scrubber where a gas which is to be cleaned and a liquid which cleans the gas are both directed through the throat of a Ventu- The throat velocities of the unscrubbed gas, when in contact with the scrubbing liquid, produces pressure drops across the throat section of the Venturi. This pressure drop is directly proportional to the efficiency of collision between the particles in flight and the water droplets created during turbulence in the throat region of the Venturi. During the handling of a vgiven gas stream in the course of any process, the gas throughput may vary either intentionally due to production changes or as the result of the peculiar nature of the particular process which varies the volume of the gas. During a change in the gas throughput the velocity will change in proportion, and this in turn will reduce or increase the pressure drop. However, the best performance will be achieved only when the pressure drop in the Venturi is maintained at predetermined ideal value.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide for a scrubber an adjustable Venturi throat structure which is capable of adjusting the throat area of the Venturi to provide the best possible performance under the particular operating conditions of the scrubber.

A particular object of the present invention resides in providing for a scrubber an adjustable Venturi throat structure capable of directing liquid across the gas which flows centrally through the scrubber so that the gas will burst through the liquid shattering it into minute droplets.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide for a scrubber an adjustable Venturi throat structure which is composed of simple rugged elements which are very reliable in operation and which require practically no maintenance.

The object of the present invention also includea scrubber having an adjustable Venturi throat structure which is power actuated.

In accordance with the invention the scrubber includes a conduit means which directs the gas which is to be cleaned and a liquid which is used for cleaning the gas along a given path. The conduit means has a tapered portion which converges in the direction of flow of the gas and liquid and which forms the inlet of the Venturi. A gas inlet portion of the conduit means directs the gas centrally through the Venturi. A liquid-supply means supplies sheets of liquid between which the gas flows, these sheets of liquid being directed also in the direction of gas flow toward the tapered converging inlet of the Venturi. An adjustable Venturi throat means includes a pair of identical baffle plates swingable toward and away from each other to equal and opposite extents so that the adjustable Venturi throat structure has its throat determined by the inner edges of the swingable baffle plates, and this structure provides the direction of flow of the liquid transversely across the gas so that the latter will burst through the liquid shattering the liquid into the minute droplets.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding of the invention reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a top plan view of a scrubber which includes the structure of the invention, part of the structure being broken away in FIG. I to more clearly illustrate the details thereof;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation of the structure of FIG. 1 taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation of a gas scrubber provided with an adjustable Venturi throat means of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary transverse sectional elevation of the structure of FIG. 3 taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional elevation of the structure of FIGS. 3 and 4, taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows.

The drawings illustrate the structure of the invention incorporated into that type of scrubber which is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,145,239.

The structure of the scrubber includes a conduit means composed of an upper cylindrical conduit section 20 (FIGS. 1 and 2) through which the gas which is to be cleaned is directed downwardly. This conduit section 20 extends through and is carried by a horizontal wall 22 which is fixed, as by the rivets 24, to the top end of a conduit section 26 which is rectangular or square and which surrounds the portion of the conduit 20 which extends beneath the horizontal wall 22. The wall 22 carries at its upper surface a pair of L-shaped boxes 28 each having a bottom wall 30 resting directly on the wall 22. This bottom wall 30 carries a pair of elongated rectangular tubes 32 and 32 which extend through the bottom wall 30, in each box 28, and the wall 22 is formed with slots 36 through which lower portions of these elongated rectangular tubes 32 and 34 extend to an elevation somewhat lower than the wall 22. Supply pipes 38 communicate with the interiors of the boxes 28 at one end thereof to supply the cleaning liquid thereto, and this liquid will rise upwardly in each box 28 to flow over the top edge of one of the walls of each rectangular tube 32. Each rectangular tube 32 has a pair of opposed walls one of which has a toothed or serrated edge 40 which is lower than the top edges of the remaining walls of each tube 32, so that the liquid flows over the serrated edge 40 downwardly through the several tubes 32 in the form of sheets of liquid. The boxes 28 are provided with suitable covers 42 having handles 44 which enable the operator to remove the covers 44 whenever desired so as to be able to inspect the interior of the boxes 28.

The conduit means of the scrubber includes, in addition to the conduit sections 20 and 26, a tapered conduit section 46 which converges downwardly in the direction of flow of the gas and liquid provided by the conduit means 20, 26, 46. This tapered portion of the conduit means forms the inlet of a Venturi and at its smallest end, the tapered conduit portion 46 defines the rectangular orifice 48 visible in FIG. I. This orifice 48 is defined by a relatively short rectangular tube 50 which, as shown in FIG. 2, terminates at its bottom end in an outwardly directed flange S2.

The adjustable Venturi throat means of the invention is connected to the flange 52 and thus communicates with the conduit means 20, 26, 46 for receiving the gas and liquid therefrom, and the details of the adjustable Venturi throat means are described below. This latter adjustable throat means is capable of being adjusted by way of an adjusting means in the form of a linkage described below.

With reference to FIGS. 3-5, the throat of the Venturi includes a rectangular tubular structure 200 which is of rectangular configuration in cross section and which has a front wall 202 and a rear wall 204 shown in FIG. 4. The tubular structure 200 has a pair of opposed elongated sidewalls 206 and 208, (FIG. 5) which are flat and parallel to each other, and the walls 202 and 204 are also flat and parallel to each other while being perpendicular to the walls 206 and 208. The upper edges of all of these walls are fixed to a horizontal wall 210 formed with a rectangular opening registering with the opening 48 and this wall 210 is fixed to the flange 52 in any suitable way. As may be seen from FIG. 5, the wall 210 extends inwardly beyond the sidewalls 206 and 208, and beneath these inner overhangs provided by the wall 210 are situated a pair of rotary shafts 212 and 214 which extend through suitable apertures in the walls 202 and 204 and which are supported at their outer ends in bearings 216 two of which are shown in FIG. 4, carried by any suitable stationary frame structure. The shafts 212 and 214 have stationary parallel axes situated in a plane normal to the central axis of the Venturi, and these axes extend perpendicularly to the Venturi axis.

The adjustable Venturi throat means includes a pair of tiltable baffle plates 218 and 220 which extend parallel to each other along the entire lengths of the walls 206 and 208 and which have elongated tubular portions through which the shafts 212 and 214 respectively extend and to which these shafts are keyed in the manner shown in FIG. 5. Thus, the baffle plates 218 and 220 are constrained to turn with the shafts 212 and 214, respectively. These plates may be turned, for example, between the positions shown in solid and dot-dash lines in FIG. 5. Thus, these baffle plates define, distant from the shafts 212 and 214 which determine the turning axes of the baffle plates inner straight parallel edges 222 and 224 which determine the smallest size of the Venturi in any adjusted position thereof, and these inner edges 222 and 224 are at all times situated in a common plane normal to the central axis of the Venturi and also these edges are at all times equidistant from the central Venturi axis.

The adjusting means includes a pair of equal gears 226 and 228 (FIG. 3) which are fixed respectively to the shafts 212 and 214 and which mesh with each other so that in response to turning of one of these gears the other gear will necessarily turn equally and oppositely, and thus in this way the adjusting means provides equal and opposite turning for the baffles 218 and 220. In the illustrated example the adjusting means includes a lever 230 fixed to the shaft 214 and pivotally connected distant from the latter to the outer end of a piston rod which is connected to a piston which is slidable in a pneumatic cylinder 232 which is supported for pivotal movement by a suitable stationary bracket 234. The pneumatic cylinder 232 together with the piston therein forms a piston-and-cylinder means which acts through the lever 230 on the shaft 214 to turn the latter and thus turn the gear 228 which will provide equal and opposite turning for the gear 226. The cylinder 232 is double-acting so that air under pressure can be introduced from either end thereof to provide turning of the shaft 214 in one direction or the other, and the control of the flow of air under pressure to and from the pneumatic cylinder 232 is carried out in a well known manner, so that with this embodiment a power-actuated adjusting means is provided for adjusting the baffle plates 218 and 220 so as to adjust the throat area of the Venturi. Because the shafts 212 and 214 are situated beneath the inner overhanging portion of the plate 210, where this plate extends inwardly beyond the walls 206 and 208, these shafts do not in any way interfere with the flow of the gas and liquid through the Venturi. The lever 230 may be turned, for example, between the lower solid line position shown in FIG. 3 and the upper dotted line position illustrated therein.

The adjustable throat section provided with the Venturi structure of the invention makes it possible to maintain a constant overall pressure even when the particular process requires a throughput of varying volume. It is to be noted that the controls for the adjustment of the Venturi of the invention may be automated.

As is particularly apparent from FIGS. 1 and 2, the conduit means which directs the gas to the Venturi includes the central gas inlet portion 20 through which the gas is directed substantially centrally to and through the Venturi inlet 46 The liquid supply means directs to the Venturi inlet, in the direction of gas flow, sheets of liquid between which the as is situated. The ad ustable Venturi throat means coacts wit the Venturi inlet to receive the liquid therefrom and to direct the liquid transversely through the gas across the throat area of the Venturi so that the gas bursts through the liquid, shattering it into minute droplets.

What is claimed is:

1. In a scrubber, conduit means for directing downwardly along a given vertical path a gas which is to be cleaned and a liquid for cleaning the gas, said conduit means having a tapered portion which converges in the downward direction of flow of the liquid and gas and which forms a Venturi inlet, said conduit means having a gas inlet portion for directing the gas to said tapered portion of said conduit means through said Venturi inlet, liquid-supply means surrounding said gas inlet portion for directing the liquid downwardly toward said tapered portion of said conduit means in the form of liquid sheets between which the gas flows from said gas inlet portion of said conduit means, and adjustable Venturi throat means communicating with said tapered portion of said conduit means for forming a Venturi throat of adjustable cross-sectional area smaller than said inlet which receives the gas and liquid and through which the gas and liquid flow, said adjustable Venturi throat means having a central vertical axis extending in the direction of movement of the liquid and gas and a pair of opposed inner straight parallel edges situated in a plane normal to said axis with the latter passing centrally between said edges, a pair of elongated battle plates of identical construction respectively having curved terminal end regions defining said inner edges of said adjustable Venturi throat means, support means supporting said pair of plates for respective turning movement about a pair of horizontal paral lel turning axes which are parallel to said inner edges and which are equidistantly situated from said central axis extending perpendicularly thereto also in a plane which is normal to said central axis, adjusting means operatively connected with said baffle plates for equally and oppositely adjusting the latter with respect to said axis to determine the smallest area of the Venturi throat at any adjusted position of said Venturi throat means, said pair of elongated baffle plates forming at said Venturi throat a means for shattering the liquid into minute droplets by deflecting the falling liquid sheets transversely across the gas with the latter bursting through the liquid, said adjusting means including a pair of equal gears meshing with each other, respectively having parallel axes coinciding with said turning axes, and operatively connected to said baffle plates for turning the latter equally and oppositely in response to turning of said gears, and a pneumatic cylinder-and-piston means operatively connected with one of said gears for turning the latter about its axis, said pneumatic means forming part of said adjusting means. 

1. In a scrubber, conduit means for directing downwardly along a given vertical path a gas which is to be cleaned and a liquid for cleaning the gas, said conduit means having a tapered portion which converges in the downward direction of flow of the liquid and gas and which forms a Venturi inlet, said conduit means having a gas inlet portion for directing the gas to said tapered portion of said conduit means through said Venturi inlet, liquidsupply means surrounding said gas inlet portion for directing the liquid downwardly toward said tapered portion of said conduit means in the form of liquid sheets between which the gas flows from said gas inlet portion of said conduit means, and adjustable Venturi throat means communicating with said tapered portion of said conduit means for forming a Venturi throat of adjustable cross-sectional area smaller than said inlet which receives the gas and liquid and through which the gas and liquid flow, said adjustable Venturi throat means having a central vertical axis extending in the direction of movement of the liquid and gas and a pair of opposed inner straight parallel edges situated in a plane normal tO said axis with the latter passing centrally between said edges, a pair of elongated baffle plates of identical construction respectively having curved terminal end regions defining said inner edges of said adjustable Venturi throat means, support means supporting said pair of plates for respective turning movement about a pair of horizontal parallel turning axes which are parallel to said inner edges and which are equidistantly situated from said central axis extending perpendicularly thereto also in a plane which is normal to said central axis, adjusting means operatively connected with said baffle plates for equally and oppositely adjusting the latter with respect to said axis to determine the smallest area of the Venturi throat at any adjusted position of said Venturi throat means, said pair of elongated baffle plates forming at said Venturi throat a means for shattering the liquid into minute droplets by deflecting the falling liquid sheets transversely across the gas with the latter bursting through the liquid, said adjusting means including a pair of equal gears meshing with each other, respectively having parallel axes coinciding with said turning axes, and operatively connected to said baffle plates for turning the latter equally and oppositely in response to turning of said gears, and a pneumatic cylinder-and-piston means operatively connected with one of said gears for turning the latter about its axis, said pneumatic means forming part of said adjusting means. 